1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to inflatable garments particularly such as are used for first aid or emergency use on patients either inside or outside of a hospital. It is adapted for rapid application at the site of an accident to immobilize the body below the rib cage, impose pressure to reduce or inhibit bleeding and to displace blood flow to the lower torso and legs thereby raising blood pressure and functioning as an instant auto transfusion of that blood to the brain and other vital organs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore the application of inflatable appliances to the lower torso for the treatment of shock, bleeding and to immobilize the patient has been proposed as in Gardner U.S. Pat. No. 3,460,531 of Aug. 12, 1969, for "Inflatable Spling With Lacing Means." More recenty, U.S. Pat. 3,933,150 to Kaplan et al. for a "Medical Pneumatic Trouser for Emergency Autotransfusion" disclosed another form of inflatable garment for these purposes. In the case of the Gardner tubular splint it merely encases the entire lower torso without affording any perineal relief or any access to individual legs or the abdominal region of the patient. The trousers of Kaplan et al. are applied as a wrap around appliance and are prone to become released in the overlapping areas of inflation, particularly where Velcro type fasteners are employed. They also present lengths of leg material on each side of a patient placed upon the trousers so that it is awkward to properly place the respective portions of the leg wrapping only partially across the patient's leg and obtain a smooth and comfortable fit, or an effective uniform closure along the length of the legs. Other inflatable splinting and pressurizing appliances are knwon such as the double walled tubular splints of Jobst U.S. Pat. No. 2,747,570, Gottfried U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,083,708 and 3,153,413 and Brown U.S. Pat. No. 2,694,395, however these appliances were not concerned with convenience of application to enclose the individual legs and abdomen of a patient.